DNA (Backstreet Boys album)
DNA is the ninth studio album (eighth in the US) by the Backstreet Boys.[4] The album was first released in Japan on January 23, 2019, and everywhere else on January 25, 2019, through a collaboration with the group's own K-BAHN record label and RCA Records. The album features tracks written by Edei, Lauv, Andy Grammer, Stuart Crichton, Ryan Tedder and Shawn Mendes.[5] This is the group's second album, after 2007's Unbreakable, to neglect involvement from longtime producers and friends Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. It also serves as the follow-up to their eighth studio album (seventh in the US) In a World Like This (2013). It was preceded by the singles "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Chances", "No Place", and will be supported by a world tour, the band's most expansive in 18 years, beginning on May 11, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal,[6] before visiting North America in July 2019.[7] The album is their first on one of Sony Music's subsidiary companies since In a World Like This (2013), which was released independently through BMG.[8] It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album there and the first since Black & Blue in 2000.
DNA | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 23, 2019 | |||
Recorded | 2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:18 | |||
Label |
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Producer |
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Backstreet Boys chronology | ||||
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Singles from DNA | ||||
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Background and promotion
A press release stated that the group "analyzed their individual DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA".[7] Kevin Richardson said of the album: "We were able to bring all of our influences and styles into one coherent piece of work. These songs are a great representation of who we are as individuals and who we are as a group. It's our DNA. We're really proud of that."[6] DNA is also short for Digital and Analog which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.
The group announced the name of the album and its release date on November 9, 2018. The same day, they also released the single "Chances" and announced the DNA World Tour in support of the album, which began in May 2019.[9]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 67/100[10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Flood Magazine | 6/10[11] |
The Guardian | [12] |
God Is in the TV | 2/10[13] |
The Independent | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
DNA received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]
Commercial performance
DNA debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 234,000 album-equivalent units, of which 227,000 were pure album sales.[14] It is the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album and first in 19 years, the last being Black & Blue (2000). It also makes this their eighth consecutive top-ten album following In a World Like This (2013), and set the group's record of generating number-one albums for three consecutive decades (1990-2010).[14]
In Canada, the album debuted at number one with over 46,000 first week sales. On January 3, 2020 the album was certified platinum with over 80,000 sales. This is also the 5th highest-selling album in Canada in 2019.[15]
Track listing
Credits adapted from Apple Music.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" |
| 3:36 | |
2. | "Nobody Else" | 3:38 | ||
3. | "Breathe" |
| Ben Bram | 3:06 |
4. | "New Love" |
|
| 3:00 |
5. | "Passionate" |
| 3:43 | |
6. | "Is It Just Me" |
| 3:37 | |
7. | "Chances" |
|
| 2:53 |
8. | "No Place" |
| Steven Solomon | 2:59 |
9. | "Chateau" |
| Crichton | 3:08 |
10. | "The Way It Was" |
| Crichton | 3:26 |
11. | "Just Like You Like It" |
| 3:42 | |
12. | "OK" |
| Crichton | 2:31 |
Total length: | 39:19 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Said I Love You" |
| 2:50 |
14. | "Do You Remember" |
| 2:54 |
15. | "Best Days" |
| 3:40 |
Total length: | 48:43 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[18]
Backstreet Boys
Additional personnel
- Mitch Allan – vocal production (track 5)
- Ed Boyer – mixing (track 3)
- Ben Bram – producer, arranger, engineer, and additional vocals (track 3)
- Ross Copperman – producer, engineer, mixing, programming, guitars, and keyboards (track 11)
- Serge Courtois – mixing (track 8)
- Stuart Crichton – producer, beats, and programming (tracks 1, 9, 10, 12); engineer (tracks 1, 9, 10); piano and synthesizers (track 1); vocal producer (track 6)
- Josh Ditty – assistant engineer (track 11)
- Eric J. Dubowsky – mixing (tracks 9, 10, 12)
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 1, 4, 7)
- Josh Gudwin – mixing (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- John Hanes – mix engineer (tracks 1, 4, 7)
- Kuk Harrell – vocal production (tracks 4, 7)
- Jamie Hartman – producer, engineer, piano, synthesizers, and bass (track 1)
- Erik Hassle – electric piano (track 4)
- Hunter Jackson – mixing assistant (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Steve James – producer (track 2)
- Josh Kear – additional production (track 11)
- Scott Kelly – assistant engineer (track 7)
- Joe Kirkland – guitar (track 12)
- Ian Kirkpatrick – producer, engineer, instruments, and programming (track 6)
- Dave Kutch – mastering
- Ari Leff – additional production (track 2)
- Elof Loelv – producer, instrumentation, programming, and engineer (track 4)
- Elijah Marrett-Hitch – mixing assistant (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Ryan Ogren – producer (track 2)
- David Phelan – engineer (track 4)
- Michael Pollack – additional keyboards (track 9)
- Rich Rich – engineer (track 7)
- Zach Skelton – producer, guitar, drums, keyboards, and programming (track 7)
- Casey Smith – backing vocals (track 7)
- Steven Solomon – producer, guitar, bass, and programming (track 8)
- Garrison Starr – guitar (track 10)
- The Stereotypes – producers (track 5)
- Ryan Tedder – producer and additional programming (track 7)
- Simone Torres – vocal engineer (tracks 4, 7)
- Jake Troth – additional production (track 4)
- Tim Watt – mixing assistant (tracks 9, 10, 12)
- The Wiild – producer (track 5)
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[47] | Platinum | 80,000 |
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Country | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | January 23, 2019 | CD | Sony | [48] |
United States | January 25, 2019 | RCA | [49] | |
United States | February 1, 2019 | LP | [50] |
References
- Williams, Holly. "Album reviews: Backstreet Boys – DNA, and Blood Red Shoes – Get Tragic". Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- Dolan, Jon (7 February 2019). "Review: Backstreet's Back With Contemporary-Pop Magic on 'DNA'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- Yeung, Neil Z. "DNA - Backstreet Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- "Backstreet Boys Are Back With 'DNA': Stream It Now". Billboard.
- Kelly, Aoife (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys announce 3Arena date on world tour and new album DNA". Irish Independent. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- Johnson, Zach (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys Announce New DNA Album and World Tour in 2019". E! Online. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- Kreps, Daniel (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys Announce Biggest Arena Tour in 18 Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- "Backstreet Boys Release Brand New Single & Video For 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'". RCA Records. May 17, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- Bajgrowicz, Brooke (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys Announce Massive 70-Date World Arena Tour: See the Dates". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- "DNA by Backstreet Boys Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- Hurst, Josh (February 5, 2019). "Backstreet Boys, "DNA"". Flood Magazine. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- Hutchinson, Kate (25 January 2019). "Backstreet Boys: DNA Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- Etheridge, Loz (February 5, 2019). "They Also Ran - Albums Roundup". God Is in the TV. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- Caulfield, Keith (February 3, 2019). "Backstreet Boys Score First No. 1 Album in Nearly 20 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'DNA'". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- "2019 Nielsen Music/MRC Data Canada Year-End Report" (PDF). Nielsen. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 2, 2020.
- "Backstreet Boys – DNA". Apple Music (US). Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- "Backstreet Boys – DNA". Apple Music (JP). Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- DNA (booklet). K-BAHN, RCA. 2019.
- "Australiancharts.com – Backstreet Boys – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
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- "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201905 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
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- "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 5, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
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- "DNA on Billboard Japan Hot Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2019-02-04" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 5, 2019". VG-lista. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
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